Xwing Unveils Plans for Autonomous Cargo Operations
Autonomous flight technology pioneer Xwing says it has already made more than 70 pilotless takeoffs and landings in a converted Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. Unveiling the aircraft on Thursday at Buchanan Field Airport in California, the startup said it intends to start regional cargo operations on routes of up to 500 miles as part of its plan to prove the use case for autonomous operations.
According to Xwing, which has secured an FAA Part 135 air carrier certificate for drone cargo deliveries, initial operations with a pilot on board will begin “in the coming months.” Subject to FAA approval, the company hopes to debut autonomous operations in late 2021 or early 2022, although these will initially be conducted with a remote operator on the ground, mainly to handle interactions with air traffic controllers.
Xwing has been developing its Autoflight System for four years. It consists of detect-and-avoid sensors to analyze airborne and ground-based hazards and navigation and control software to generate optimal flight paths, interface with ATC, monitor the health of aircraft systems, and deal with operational contingencies.
For more than 12 months, the California-based company has been participating in the NASA-led program to evaluate the use of unmanned aircraft systems in the National Airspace System.
This story comes from the new FutureFlight.aero resource developed by AIN to provide objective, independent coverage and analysis of new aviation technology, including electric aircraft developments.
The newly released 2nd edition of Fueling the Future: Sustainable Aviation Fuel Guide, a guidebook on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), just arrived in my inbox, a timely reminder of steady progress on the environmental front and a reminder of challenges and opportunities facing business aviation in the years ahead.
Covid-19 is absorbing much of the industry’s attention, but we must carve out the time to focus on other priorities that also demand attention. While new propulsion systems and energy alternatives are likely to become vital contributors to more sustainable lifestyles, the technology roadmaps are still being imagined, let alone executed.
While commercial and business aviation are visible adopters of new technologies, we would all do well to embrace solutions that serve us well in the interim period.
Much like consumer interest in more energy-efficient automobiles and homes, demand for alternative aviation fuels has been accelerating. Some organizations cannot yet justify the into-plane cost differential that comes at this time with SAF but the economics of fuel supply—from feedstock to fuel tank—are improving every day, and the environmental benefits are immediate.
Thankfully, many business aircraft customers and FBOs are taking the time to educate themselves on SAF and participate in the quiet revolution. Fueling the Future: Sustainable Aviation Fuel Guide arrives just in time, like a business aircraft, as a valuable resource for those wanting to participate in this important progress.
Sky Harbour Group, which plans to establish a national network of privately owned aircraft hangar complexes, will open its first location September 1 at the Houston area's Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR).
The facility, located at the northeast corner of the field off Taxiway Charlie, consists of 13 individually leased NFPA Group 3 modular hangars, including four 16,000-sq-ft structures capable of sheltering the latest ultra-long-range business jets, four 9,000-sq-ft hangars, and five 8,000-sq-ft hangars, all with 28-foot-high doors. According to the company, as of mid-August, the complex was 50 percent leased. More than a hangar, the company aims to give operators a base for their flight departments.
“Essentially what we’ve done is taken a prototype approach to hangar construction,” said company president and co-founder Tal Keinan. “We were looking to offer the most efficient—from a technical, functional standpoint—facility you can have if you are basing your aircraft somewhere.” Toward that end, the hangars come equipped with compressed air as well as 480-, 240- and 120-volt electrical outlets and drainage to handle any aircraft-related tasks the tenant wishes. “If you need to put the plane up on jacks and fold the gears, you put the plane up on jacks,” Keinan told AIN. “There’s no repositioning in the hangar, or need in some cases for people to fly to another airport to get some hangar space to do routine maintenance.”
Customs Agents Arrest Pilots of Learjet Loaded with Weapons
U.S. Customs agents—alerted about a suspicious business jet at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida—boarded a Venezuelan-registered Bombardier Learjet 55 (YV3441) on August 15 and found it loaded with nearly 90 weapons, 63,000 rounds of ammunition, and more than $20,000 in U.S. currency.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized 18 assault/bolt action rifles with optics, six shotguns, 58 semiautomatic pistols, and nearly $2,700 in endorsed checks, in addition to the cash. Two Venezuelan national pilots were arrested and charged with smuggling cash and goods from the U.S., and illegally possessing firearms as aliens.
The CBP raid occurred shortly before the aircraft's planned departure. According to agents, the crew of the twinjet listed their destination as the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, but the aircraft's ultimate destination was believed to be Venezuela.
Authorities became suspicious of the aircraft after tracking its flight history over the last several months and noting the filing of a different tail number on flight plans. The incident remains under investigation.
FAA OKs Honeywell 3D-printed Flight-Critical Part
Honeywell has received its first FAA approval for a flight-critical engine part produced through additive manufacturing, marking a step forward in the rapidly advancing field of 3D printing, the company announced.
The part, the #4/5 bearing housing, is a structural component for the ATF3-6 turbofan used on the Dassault Falcon 20G maritime patrol aircraft operated by the French Navy. The ATF3-6 engine was certified in 1967, and only about a dozen are still flying, making parts sourcing difficult.
Complicating matters, Honeywell said, is that production of the #4/5 bearing housing through traditional means is a complex process, requiring expensive specialty tools and molds. This drives up the cost of replacement.
Additive manufacturing, however, enables parts to be printed more quickly and in smaller quantities, without the need for expensive tools. “Though there aren’t many in service, Honeywell is responsible for supporting and maintaining these engines. We had to find a way to address these supply-chain issues and keep these aircraft flying,” said Jon Hobgood, v-p of manufacturing engineering for Honeywell Aerospace. “We were able to use our expertise in additive manufacturing to produce the qualified part much faster, reducing our lead time from approximately two years to two weeks.”
Since the #4/5 bearing housing is considered “safety-critical” or “flight-critical” from a regulatory standpoint, it must always function properly and must be approved by regulatory organizations.
Global aviation fuel provider Air bp and sustainable fuel producer Neste have inked an agreement to increase the flow of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) available to airports over the coming year. The projected amount will total five times the volume of SAF the companies delivered in 2019. The augmented shipments will begin over the next few weeks to Stockholm and Oslo, with other European airports to follow.
The companies noted that the ramp-up of production comes in response to increasing demand from existing and new customers, as well as from Norway, which mandates that 0.5 percent of aviation fuel sold in-country consists of SAF. Oslo Airport was the first to provide Neste SAF through its existing fueling infrastructure.
Neste currently can produce 100,000 tons of SAF a year. It is expanding its Singapore refinery and has plans to invest in its Rotterdam facility, which could boost its annual output to 1.5 million tons a year by 2023.
“The Covid-19 pandemic and its economic implications have not changed our ambition,” said Thorsten Lange, Neste’s executive v-p of renewable aviation. “We are looking to continue our close collaboration with Air bp and jointly contributing to a more sustainable aviation.”
Medaire Offers Covid-19 Testing and Tracking
Medical services provider Medaire has partnered with a third-party company to offer Covid-19 testing and tracking to flight crews, company personnel, and passengers. The FDA-authorized saliva collection test is as effective as nasal swab tests, according to Medaire, and can be self-administered with supervision via a Zoom video call.
Results of the HIPAA-compliant test are typically known within 24 to 48 hours of the lab receiving the specimen, Medaire said. Testing and reporting of results are managed by Medaire as part of its integrated health and travel safety solution.
Additionally, as part of its Health Check MicroLearning solution, Medaire will provide operators with personal protective equipment as well as the equipment necessary for passenger and crew screening for Covid-19. The company will also supply a “microlearning module” to provide safe and effective training for those who perform the screening.
Hybrid Airship Floats New Funding
Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) has raised nearly £1.5 million ($1.99 million) in a new round of fundraising linked to a UK government grant. The company’s prospects have been buoyed by the increased focus on environmentally-friendly air transport, but HAV still needs to find another £140 million in order to fly its first production hybrid airship in early 2024. The Airlander features outer hull fabric with helium providing lift, composite structure, and four diesel engines.
The prototype was wrecked in November 2017 after it detached from its mooring mast. Since then, HAV has concentrated on refining the design, developing maintenance procedures, exploring certification requirements, and marketing to potential customers. It says that although the prototype flew only six times, these covered a significant part of the ultimate flight envelope. It flew to 3,700 feet, reached 37 knots, and demonstrated a three-hour endurance.
The design changes include aerodynamic improvements such as changes to the hull, tailfins, and strakes. More vectored thrust control was added to the two forward engines by removing their ducts. HAV added a bow thruster to aid handling at slow speeds and on the ground. The landing skids are replaced by a retractable four-point landing gear.
The payload remains 10 tonnes for most missions, or 60 passengers. Cruise speed is up to 80 knots. Typical range is 2,300 miles.
Boeing’s Dreamlifter fleet was put into service a little more than a decade ago to transport assemblies to the company’s Charleston, South Carolina facility that produces 787 Dreamliners. Kenneth Robinson captured this takeoff of the Dreamliner, a modified 747, after it had dropped off supplies in Charleston. In addition to shuttling large parts to Charleston, the enormous aircraft recently has been put in use to help transport personal protective equipment. Thanks for sharing Kenneth!
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